Letters to the Editor, Aug. 9

Regarding “Governor may take warming to voters” (Aug. 5): David R. Baker describes the need to extend cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emission control past the year 2020. How comprehensive that system is can be debated, since one industry, forestry, is escaping proper scrutiny.

We are well past the era of lumberjacks with axes and two-man saws inflicting minimal harm to the environment. Instead, we have corporations with monster timber harvest vehicles easily stripping thousands of acres of healthy mature trees to be replaced by conifer saplings in commercial tree farms.

In that activity, there is incalculable loss of those trees’ miraculous carbon storage, while the clear-cutting machines emit their own carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. No less harmful, there is disruption and compaction of the porous forest soil, seriously impairing nature’s water retention system that supplies some 80 percent of California’s water.

Bob Moncrieff, Monte Sereno

Good endorsement

Kudos to The Chronicle for its swift and forceful endorsement of Hillary Clinton’s candidacy. Not only is she impressively qualified, but her adversary is the antithesis of worthy.

Indeed, the most immediate and worrisome security threat facing our great nation is, as by now is vividly evident, the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency. Lest that happen, it is imperative that all who value the country’s core values and vast potential for good unite as one to speak out often and loudly against his rampant outrages. Seldom have the responsibilities of citizenship been more urgent.

Richard Boyce, San Francisco

No to TPP

I am once again appalled to find that my senator, Dianne Feinstein, has voted to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This means that this very complex bill gets written in secret and presented for a vote without amendment. They essentially cram it down our throats without any input from private citizens.

What we do know about this bill is that it is less about trade than it is about corporations being able to sue national governments that pass environmental, safety and labor regulations that may cost them profits.

Feinstein wants to pass a bill that hands our national sovereignty off to tribunals run by judges hired by the corporations. Once again, the wealthy in our government have chosen to sell us out to foreigners. Shame on you, senator.

Rik Elswit, San Francisco

Legalized pot

Regarding “Pro-pot forces sue over ballot language” (Aug. 5): I don’t believe those in favor of Proposition 64, the legalization of recreational marijuana, will be dissuaded by “TV commercials” and children targeted by ads for “marijuana gummy candy and brownies.” The Public Policy Institute of California’s latest poll shows 60 percent in favor of legalization and 37 percent opposed.

Of those 60 percent, likely most, if not all, are now or have been recreational smokers, be it legal or not, and have already been exposed to the federal government’s “Reefer Madness” form of propaganda for years. Besides, TV advertisement for marijuana, like hard liquor, is already banned by the federal government, and recreational marijuana will only be sold, as is liquor, to adults over 21, so children don’t even enter the equation. The inevitability of legalization has surrounded us for decades.

President Obama, who has admitted smoking marijuana, agrees that it’s less harmful than alcohol. When legal, the process of pardoning those California inmates incarcerated for nonviolent marijuana offenses, as Obama has recently done, can begin.

Michael Haworth, Vallejo

Broken system

Regarding “Woman is gunned down and no one will pay for it” (Aug. 6): What am I missing? After reading the article, all I can do is shake my head. Gina Estevez was driving away and shot in the back of the head. She was murdered by a guy with an illegal assault rifle. I’m stunned, and I’m sure that her family is way past heartbroken. Is our justice system beyond repair?

Judith Keenan, San Francisco

Keep the video

While I wholeheartedly agree with Facebook disabling live streaming in potentially delicate police situations, it is imperative that the entire video remain intact for subsequent viewing by all concerned parties.

However, did I miss a very important piece of information in the Korryn Gaines backstory? Since when do armed police come to one’s home because they fail to appear for “a traffic violation?” I had a roommate in college who proudly racked up over $300 in Palo Alto parking and driving violations in her freshman year alone, and she cheerfully tore up her request to appear in court. She never heard another word. Oh yeah, she drove a Mercedes SL and had a Stanford post office box.

Kathleen McNellis, Redwood City

Warning sign?

Regarding “Lawsuits, finger-pointing and more sinking likely for Millennium” (Aug. 8): The column includes the justification: “Millennium Partners has said the design is safe and is no different from what some other high-rise builders have done on landfill.” In a city known for earthquakes and filling the bay, if this justification is true, is the tilt and settling of the Millennium Tower merely a sign of things to come?